ClueBy
TodayArchiveWord list

Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
YesNo
↻ New worksheet

Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. bat — the animal
  3. saw — the tool
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. branch — a division
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wind — moving air
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. wind — moving air
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. shower — to wash
  13. wound — an injury
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. fall — to drop
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. shower — rain
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. fall — the season
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. saw — the tool
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. branch — of a tree

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com